Building construction



2- J. F. O'BRIEN EIAL. 2,293,267

' I BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Filed July 27, 1940 4 Sheets-Sheet l IOQ ZJIa

INVENTORS OSEPH F. OBRlEN AND ROBERT L DAWSON Kama-(Cg T RNEY -Aug. 18 1942.

J. F. O'BRIEN ETAL. BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Filed July 27, 1940 IOb 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS JOSEPH F. O'BRIEN mo BERT DAVISONI fi l'TORNE-Y Aug-18,1942. Jq ammmp 2,293 261 BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Filed July 27, 1940 4 Sheets-Sh et 3.

INVENTORS l OSEPH F: O'BRIEN/mo ROBERT L AVISON TH R TTORNEYS Patented Aug. 18, 1942 v BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Joseph F. O'Brien, Jersey City, N. J., and Robert L. Davison, New York, N. Y., assignors to John B. Pierce Foundation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application 3 Claims.

The invention relates to improved building construction. h

An object of the invention is the provision of means for supplementing the thermal insulation afforded by the wall material, i. e., the material per se of the walls, particularly the outer walls, of a building structure by the combination therewith of furniture for the building, such building furniture mechanically secured to the inner face of such wall material, to combinedly form the outer wall or walls of the building.

The term"wall material" herein defined includes aplurality of diiferent materials forming a part of any wall of a building structure. The term furniture as employed herein includes cases of the types utilizedfor the storing of books or other articles of utility to the occupants of the building structure, closets for clothes and other articles of wear, for linen, brooms, carpet sweepers, vacuum cleaners and the like, for china,

- kitchen utensils, etc., also wardrobes for garments, high-boys, chests of drawers, utility boxes and so forth, .said furniture having the characteristic that air within the interior of such furniture is not subject to convection current and that the interiors of such furniture function as dead air spaces. I

One feature of the invention resides in installing, as a permanent structural component interiorly of a room or other space of a building structure such articles of furniture disposed in substantial contiguous horizontal relationship to pursuant to the construction set forth ,in the United States Letters Patent No. 2,075,338, dated March 30, 1937, and/or Letters Patent No.

2,235,811, dated March 25, 1941, and/or Serial No. 393,498, filed May 15, 1941, Robert L. Davison, assignor to John B. Pierce Foundation, in which construction a continuous wall structural unit July 27, 1940, Serial No. 348,058

Serial No. 348,058 I tical column and from floor level to at least window sill height.

Pursuant to the present invention such assem-' bly of substantially contiguously arranged furniture forms an inwardly disposed component of the outer wall orwalls of the room or rooms or other space which face the direction or directions encountering the more severe outer atmospheric conditions.

The advantages, above referred to, are realized in greater measure by application of the invention to all rooms or other.spaces on any given floor level of the building structure, and further enlarged by utilizing the invention as stated on all floor levels of the building structure.

By the invention, assuming proper air-tight fitting of windows, doorsand the like of such room or rooms or other'spaces of any given floor level and of the respective floor levels of a given building structure, the consumption of fuel required to maintain comfortable interior temperature through the intermediation of the heating system during the heating season, is minimized; as a corollary, the invention enables wall material of lesser thermal insulation determined by geographical location and/or barometrical conditions to be employed while maintaining comfortable interior temperature during the heating season. Corresponding advantageous results are availed of during the summer season, due precaution of closing of windows, doors andthe like being taken.

. The invention affords sociological advantages in that all essential articles of-furniture are component parts of the house, thus relieving the occupants of having furniture of their own; and in enhancing the financial rating of the purchaser of such house in avffilding the expense of purchase of furniture. The available floor space of a building embodying the invention is enlarged for social uses, in that allessential furniture is located at the walls, leaving the centers of the rooms free. i

. matic, illustrating in plan a preferred-embodi-- Further features and objects of the invention will be more fully understood from the following ciiretail description and theaccompanying draw- In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a horizontal sectional view taken approximately at window sill level, largely diagramment of the invention,

Fig. 2 is a detail vertical sectional view on line extends. horizontally from vertical column to ver- 2-2 of Fig. 1.

I Fig. 3 is a detail vertical sectional view on line exterior adjacent one corner of the building, the

middle panel of the outer wall through which the viewis afforded, being removed to expose other-= wise hiddenparts.

Fig. 5 is a detail vertical sectional view, similar to that of Fig. 3, but showing the invention applied to a double wall building.

Fig. 6 is a detail vertical sectional view similar to that of Fig. 3, illustrating the invention as applied to a double wall building structure.

As indicated above, the building structure per se is preferably that set forth in the aforesaid U. S. Patent No. 2,075,338, pursuant to which the wall structure is substantially constituted of panels extending horizontally from one vertical column to adjacent vertical column thereby providing in each instance a substantially integral panel unit extending from floor level upwardly preferably to window sill height. As one feature of such building construction, the outer wall unit on any given floor may be constituted of the referred to substantially integral panel extending from floor level to window sill height, and a similar substantially integral panel extending from vertical column to vertical column, from window lintel height to the next door level, filling panels being interposed between the sill level and lintel level at the intervals between window and columns and/or between window and window, as

the case may be. The stated construction affords an added advantage to the essentials of the instant invention in that substantial eontinuity of material of the outer walls of the building per se, from floor level upwardly, coordinates with the substantially contiguous horizontal relationship of the thermal insulating articles of furniture, above defined.

Specifically, as is illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the building construction is indicated generally IB. The front door appears at M at which a porch and steps, jointly designated i2 may be provided, if preferred. Vertical columns are indicated at the four corners of the illustrated building structure at l3, l3, l3, l3, and also at locations at front, rear and opposite sides intermediate corner columns. A rear door is shown at It, for affording entry into the kitchen 8'5.

A dining and/or living room is indicated at it which is shown spaced from the kitchen by a serving table II, which may have partitions,

shelves or the like on its opposite sides, as forconcealing a dining or utility table, storing books, kitchen utensils, etc.

I8, l9 are indicated as cabinets, cases, or the like, for storing wearing apparel, books or the like, a desk, etc., which may be and preferably are of wood 01' similar material, each of which is mechanically secured to the flooring 23 of the bedroom 2|, or equivalent room, and also secured to the inner face of the material of the outer wall Illa of the building. These stated articles of furniture defined as above, are shown disposed adjacent a series of windows, indicated at 22, and preferably extend from the floor level to window-sill height. Adjacent these articles of "furniture, within the room H is also indicated a closet 23, suitable for storing clothing or the like, which may be of room height, the side wall material of which is disposed adjacent the inner face of the outer wall Ida of the building to which the stated articles of "furaaoaaav nlture l3, l8 are also adjacent and secured. the material of the closet 23 being similarly mechanically secured to the flooring 20 of the room 25 and to the inner face of the stated outer wall building material H311. The closet 23 is indicated as having a door 23a for closing the same and the stated articles of furniture are preferably provided with doors for closing the same, to afford dead air space therewithin, the factor of dead air space being enhanced by locating the stated articles of "furniture in immediate contiguous horizontal relation to one another.

The closet 26, if desired, may be employed and disposed adjacent the closet 23, as indicated in Fig. l.

in the room 2! is also indicatedin Fig. 1 a

book case 25, and also two cabinets 26, 21, see

also Fig. 3, and upwardly arranged cases 260 (and similarly 2M) for books and sundry articles, said cases 25, 26, 2t being arranged in immediate adjacency to one another and with respect to the inner face of outer wall Hlb, the same serving as articles of furniture as above defined, and mechanically secured to the floorh 2i and to the inner face of the stated outer wall l'ilb.

Adjacent the stated room 2| is indicated in Fig. 1 a room 28, which may be a bedroom, in which may be disposed, as shown, in immediate adjacency the articles of furniture 29, 29, etc., which may be cases for bdoks, cabinets or the like for wearing apparel, toys, etc., each mechanically secured to the flooring 30 of the room 28, and also to the inner face of the material of the outer wall Nib. A window is indicated at 22a. The stated articles of furniture 29 are shown having a height extending from the floor level 251d preferably to the sill height of the window As is indicated in Figs.3 and 4, with relation to the cases or cabinets 26, 29, when articles such as wearing apparel, see 26b, and/0r blankets or the like, see 29a, are placed in such furniture," such articles per se function to create dead air within the furniture or within the compartments thereof, independently and additional to the doors or the like of such furniture.

At 3| is indicated in Fig; 1, a bed, the head ly secured to the flooring 30 and in dead airspaced relation to the inner face of and mechanically secured to the outer wall We of the building. To enhance the dead air relationship of the bed 3! as an entirety and to accommodate more than one person, the bed is preferably in the form of a double berth bed.

Adjacent the room 28 is indicated in Fig. 1 another room 32 in which is disposed a bed 33 which may be of the type as the stated bed 3|, the head or'foot, piece 33a of which is mechanically secured to the flooring 34 of the room 32 and in dead air-spaced relation with and mechanically secured to the inner face of the outer wall lOc of the building. Also in the room 32 is indicated an article of furniture 35 being mechanically secured to the flooring 32 and also to the inner face of the outer wall 100, and extending from the partition 32a to the bed 33.

In the dining-diving room, or equivalent, are indicated a book case 35, or a set' of immediately disposed'book cases, the material of which is mechanically secured to the flooring 31 of the room I6 and also to the inner face of the outer wall "Id of the building; the case or cases 36 may, and preferably, have a vertical height extending to p 2,203,213?" the sill of the indicated window 22c. Adjacent the inner faceof the outer wall ltd, in the room II, are also indicated a series of seats 38, or which may be a settee, the lower parts of which are substantially closed and mechanically secured to the flooring I'lof the room l8 and. the material at the rear of the stated furniture" 38 being mechanically, secured to the inner face of the outer wall Id of the building.

40, 4| are indicated as utility or other cabinets forstorlng cooking utensils and other kitchen parsistance against wind pressure, etc. Any desir able fastening devices such as brackets, angle aphemalia orthe 1ike,secured mechanically at the 1 bottom to the flooring 42 of the kitchen It and also to the inner face of the outer wall Illa of the building, functioning as fumiture defined as above.

43 indicates a kitchen range or equivalent, which may be of the electric, gas or other type as preferred, preferably having a lower baking and/or erator or icebox 44. The rear face of-such icebox or refrigerator 44 and sink and laundry tub 45 is shown abutting the partition 48, separating the kitchen It from the bathroom 41. In the bathroom 41 are indicated a toilet bowl 48, lavatory 48, and bathtub 50, the last-named desirably having an encasing vertical wall at the rear, installed adjacent and mechanically secured relative to the inner face of the outer wall Ilia of the building and also mechanically secured to the bathroom flooring. a i

To complete the utility of the stated rooms on the common floor shown in Fig. 1, there is indicated as located in the room It a heater 5| preferably having the Fireplace stove and heater set forth in U. 8. Patent No. 2,028,088, dated January 11,71936, Robert L. Davison and Edgar V.

Ludwigfassignors to John B. Pierce Foundation,

and combined with the Duct heating system set forth by the copending application Ser. No. 34,353, filed August 2, 1935, now U; S. Patent No. 2,209,234, dated July 30,- 1940, Robert L. Davison, assignor 29 John B. Pierce Foundation, adapted to proconditions of high and low outer atmospheric 3, temperatures. The mechanical function thus per-' formed by such assembly of the respective articles of furniture" with the outer wall material of i the building, is particularly advantageous in that the mechanical cooperation is carried out between the flooring ofany given floor and the thereto adjacent outer wall material of the building, thereby reinforcing the stability of the combined mechanical structure, including adding permanence to the mechanical connection immediately between the floor and wall material, pre- 4 venting sagging of the floor and mechanical re- Patent no. 2.235.811. dated March 25, 1941, and

aforesaid co-pending application Serial No. 393,498, affords optimum facility in attaining such mechanical securement with the inner faces of the outer wall material in that such construction provides for each outer wall a panel which extends continuously from vertical column to vertical column and from the floor level to -a given height, preferably to windowsill height, with which the stated furniture particularly when assembled in immediate adjacency to one another combines to maximum degree the advantages of the stated dual functions of mechanical reinforcement and thermal insulation.

As appears from the drawings, and particularly from Figs, 4, 5 and 6, the vertical columns l3 to which the outer wall material of the building structure are secured, are shown resting upon and secured to piers 55, as by means of angle pieces 58, anchored in the concrete piers 55. Such angle pieces 58 may be secured to the columns I3 such as by bolts 51 or equivalent. If desired, a shield 58 may be employed, suitably secured to the lower edges of the lowermost panel of each outer wall, to conceal the under-foundation of the-building, and also protect the under surface of the lowermost floor from the elements.

The instant invention has especial merit in the construction of buildings of outer wall materials such as laminated plywood, bonded by insulating bonding medium, which embodiesmarked physical and thermal qualities in combination with the stated articles of furniture, which may be made of wood or the like. The stated materials in the commercial production of embodiments of the invention have brought into realization houses possessing a high degree of interior as well as exterior ornamentation as well as outstanding degree of utility as a home for human habitation.

The principle of construction as set forth in the aforesaid U. S. Patent No. 2,028,088, contributes the further advantage of affording a high percentage of the component parts of the outer building structure to be produced under shelter at a common location of manufacture, thereby enabling the erection on the location of the building of the exterior of the building in a minimal period, repeatedly carried out in practice within the working hours of a single day.

In addition to the aforesaid outstanding advantages, .the present invention constitutes a marked. contribution in social advancement, in providing maximal clear space at the center of each room thus affording physical comfort to a relatively large number of individuals of a family or any other group, occupying the house. From the economic-social viewpoint, the invention marks an epoch, particularly for newlyweds,

in that-the problem of acquiring furniture for a home is simultaneously attained when acquiring the home.

reference characters. The embodiment shown in Figs! and 6 is characterized particularly by the employment of double wall panels as the outer wall material of the building structure. In Figs.

and 6, the double outer wall material is designated generally 60, the outer sheet material thereof being designated 60a and the inner sheet material being designated 60b, theclearance 800 between the same being either dead air, or

- suitably filled with suitable insulating material,

such as glass wool or the like, or fully filled with solid insulating material such as gypsum blocks or the like, or other conventional insulating inaterlals. In such construction the outerwall material 69a may be laminated plywood and the inner wall material 60b of wood or equivalent, to which latter the articles of furniture, such as the indicated furniture" 26, 26a, 29, shown in Figs. 5' and 6, are mechanically secured as well as to the indicated flooring 20, 30.

If preferred the detailed structure of the variousf'types of "furniture," as shown in the drawings, may incorporate the outer wall material as an integral part of such articles of furniture.

Embodiments of the invention utilizing a single wall as the outer wall material in whole or in part of the building afford full attainment of th objectives of the invention in the more temperate climates whereas the embodiments utilizing double wall units for the entirety of the outer walls. of the building are advantageous for the more rigorous climates.

Whereas, we have described our invention by reference to specific forms thereof, it will be understood that many changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

We claim: 1. In a building structure, the combination of of a room of the building, said structural units including outer wall panel means which extend upwardly from a floor level, and terminate substantially at an adjacent window sill level, of said wall structure, flooring disposed at said floor level of the building, articles of furniture mechanically secured to the inner face of said outer wall panel means and to the said flooring, said articles of furniture extending at least to substantially window sill height and embodying hollow storage portions and means .normally closing said hollow storage portions, said articles of furmam niture being disposed substantially contiguous with the said innerfaceof said outer wall panel means, comprehending substantially the entire area thereof, whereby. said articles of furniture serve as elements of thermal insulation and mechanically reinforce the connections of said flooring with said outer wall structural units.

2. In a building structure, the combination of structural units forming a multiple walled outer wall structure of a room of the building, said structural units including inwardly disposed wall panel means which extend upwardly from a floor level, and terminate substantially at an adjacent window sill level, of said wall structure, flooring disposed at said floor level of the building, articles of furniture mechanically secured to the in-- -ner wall face of the said inwardly disposed wall spaced vertical columns, outer wall panels each extending from vertical column to vertical column, said outer wall panels providing for a window opening and including panels extending upwardly from floor level to the sill height of said window opening, flooring for such floor level, and

articles of furniture mechanically secured to the structural units forming an outer wall structure 40 inner faces of said wall panels which extend from floor level to window sill height, and being furthe! secured to said flooring, the said articles of furniture being disposedsubstantially contiguous with the said inner faces of said wall panels to which they are secured and comprehending substantially the entire area thereof, wherby said articles of furniture serve as elements of thermal insulation and mechanically reinforce the connections of said flooring with said outer wall structural units.

JOSEPH F. O'BRIEN.

ROBERT L. DAVISON. 

